An armor plate can be a specially formulated hard steel plate used to cover warships, vehicles, and fortifications. The material is designed to resist penetration by bullets and other ballistic projectiles with the metallurgical structure designed to break or flatten and then capture the projectile, thereby preventing penetration therethrough. When used in mobile equipment such as vehicles, the size and weight of the armor plate can be critical. Therefore, armor plate having a relatively thin thickness and yet still possessing the capability to resist penetration by projectiles is desirable.
Armor piercing ammunition includes a bullet or projectile made from a hard material that is designed to penetrate armor plate. The hard material can be made from hardened steel, tungsten-carbide, or a depleted uranium penetrator enclosed with a softer metal, such as copper or aluminum. Armor piercing ammunition can range from rifle and pistol caliber rounds up to tank rounds. The ammunition used in rifles and pistols is typically built or designed around a penetrator of steel or tungsten. For example, armor piercing ammunition used in a rifle can include a steel or tungsten penetrator within a copper or cupro-nickel jacket that is similar to the jacket that would surround lead in a conventional projectile. Upon impacting a piece of armor plate, the copper or cupro-nickel jacket is destroyed, but the penetrator continues its motion in an attempt to penetrate the plate. Two examples of armor piercing ammunition for small arms include 7.62×63 M2AP (30 caliber armor piercing) weighing 166 grains and a 7.62×51 M61AP ammunition having a 0.308″ diameter (30 caliber) projectile weighing 150.5 grains.
Given the availability of armor piercing ammunition for small arms, an economically produced armor plate that can resist armor piercing small arms ammunition fire would be desirable.